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Ramo Out 3-4 Weeks

Today, Norfolk Admirals General Manager Claude Loiselle announced that goaltender Karri Ramo has suffered a high ankle sprain and will be out three to four weeks. Subsequently, the Admirals have recalled goaltender Morgan Cey from the Mississippi Sea Wolves (ECHL).

Cey, 6-foot-3 and 177 pounds, appeared in 47 games last season for the Johnstown Chiefs, Tampa Bayâ€™s former ECHL affiliate. He posted a 20-21-3 record, 2.93 GAA and .916 save percentage in 2006-07. Cey appeared in one preseason game for Norfolk, stopping seven of ten shots in 20 minutes of action on September 30 in Hershey. He has yet to appear in a game for the Sea Wolves, who open their preseason schedule tomorrow in Texas and their regular season schedule on October 19 at Florida.

The Admirals play three games on the road this weekend with stops in Bridgeport on Friday at 7:30 p.m., Albany on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. and Springfield on Sunday at 4:00 p.m. All three games can be heard live on ESPN Radio 1310.

The one brightspot we have is out for 5 to 6 weeks with a high ankle sprain. And those injuries do linger.

Pete, the only place I think you are going to see Ramo in Norfolk is to go to the section of Scope where the Admirals' scratches sit.

But after this brutal 3 day road trip, that has now turned into a baptism of fire for Munce and Cey, we may have some indication of how ugly it may get. I hope upon hope that they will surprise the hell out of me.

Boutin's fall from grace is amazing. I thought maybe they sent him to MS to get some regular playing time in and not simple be Ramo's infrequently playing backup in Norfolk. But seeing Cey get the first callup speaks volumes of the dissatisfaction with Boutin by the Bolts brass.

I don't know who, but someone in this organization legitimately loves Munce. There was speculation the pick we dealt for him was somehow a part of the Sean Burke trade/salary dump, but it seems more than that. This guy was once more highly rated in his draft year than Boutin was.

Now, Munce didn't have his head on straight the first year and a half of pro, by all indications, but he carried Johnstown the last month of last season and it carried over to a good Norfolk camp this season.

So... who knows?

Munce and Boutin are both in the last year of their entry level contracts and I have no idea which one they'll keep. I do know Boutin was AHL Goaltender of the Month last December and that Munce has barely touched AHL ice and I know who I personally would be most comfortable with in net experience-wise right now and it isn't Munce or Cey.

Maybe Boutin came in out of shape. Maybe he pouted for not getting to go to Tampa. Maybe the scouts and coaches felt he quit the last month and a half of last season when he was playing behind a bunch of ATO's and underachieving bums for whom not being shutout was an accomplishment. I don't know.

I just can't believe the minor league situation is already caving in after just 1 game played. Darche is going to make the Lightning, Ramo's out for a month, the organization is already shuffling the deck with all the free agent signees and now this goaltending situation.

I half expect everyone in Norfolk to chase me to the plane with pitchforks and shovels next weekend considering the bad luck the Lightning are already bringing there.

Pete, don't worry, I won't chase you around Norfolk with my pitchfork.

It does look as if Darche is going to make the Lightning after all, and I sincerely congratulate him. But that's going to put a crimp into the Norfolk offense. But correct me if I'm wrong, a similar thing happened last year when Perrin and one other player who were originally ticketed for Springfield made the big club and there was no one to pick up the scoring slack. Hopefully, some of the forwards here will step up and become contibutors offensively.

Ramo's situation bothers me the most. Good goaltending can make up for deficienicies in other aspects of your team's play. And Ramo is good enough to steal games for you. One differnce I see from last year's Springfield edition is
that the overall d is better. If the D can continue to jell, it will help Munce or Cey play with less pressure. But hopefully all the talk of the vaunted depth in the Bolts organization in goal will be translated into effective play.

Someone grab a camera and take pictures of the pitchfork chase. We'll add them to the gallery here. ;)

You're right, Randy, the D in NF is... or should be... a strength over what TB's affiliates have had before. And unlike some years in SF, the positive vibes on the D aren't coming from potential, these vets have done this before. That's what has me holding out hope, as is Wanvig and to an extent Stewart being there.

Last year when Perrin made the Lightning, they tried without him in SF for a little while before making a move for Daniel Corso to take that spot. He did have 46 points in 58 games, but it was just a finger in the dam hole. They added another finger later with Wanvig, who did well, but by then it was much too late.

It doesn't take a rocket surgeon to see that with Darche and Ramo NF would have been much, much better than what they'll be over this next stretch, but like TB without Boyle, hopefully they'll be able to survive.

As the two above examples indicate, TB is not shy about making a move to patch a hole for the AHL team, though it's not always everything that's needed. If Ramo looks to be out longer, I wouldn't be surprised to see a minor league vet GT acquired (unless they REALLY have high hopes for Munce).

Minor league veteran goaltenders don't grow on trees though. Most of those guys have lucrative offers in Europe, particularly Russia. They're hard to lure in during the offseason and right now they'll be in even scarcer supply.

Munce didn't play poorly tonight. But the special teams stink right now. No PP goals and have allowed 6 opposition PP goals.

The youngsters have not stepped up to contribute offensively. Darche looks to be staying in Tampa. Hopefully if Torts want Karlsson to be in his doghouse that house would be located in Norfolk. The d is playing well in that in the 3rd period in Philly and tonight, we have not allowed many even strength goals.

Pete is right, finding a decent vet goalie will be difficult to impossible. If we can play the goalie position by committee decently and the d stays good, we should be looking to acquire help in the offensive area with an eye to the PP. Putting some goals on the board will do wonders for the other areas of the game. I think that type of player would be easier to find. IMO that's where I would be looking.